With tuition too high and graduation rates too low at many institutions, many Americans want and need to know, in the simplest terms, where to find the best value for their money. President Obama has launched a useful debate about how to measure effectiveness in higher education.

State laws requiring colleges and universities to allow guns on their campuses are a bad idea. There's no evidence that guns on campus prevent campus crime—and there are issues characteristic of the college-aged population, such as high-risk drinking and greater vulnerability to impulsive suicide, that make it especially dangerous.

The long, contentious, and often self-interested debate on whether higher education is becoming too expensive has become even more strident since the Great Recession. Is there really a "crisis" in college costs? Are colleges to blame?